Strange issue with power on PC

[LizardKuwifu]

I've had this PC since March 2023, never had an issue with it. Since this week, it has been booting by itself... I walk in the room and see the PC has been booted up, didn't do it myself. So I started looking around for a solution and eventually decided to disable the wake timers in the power plan settings in the control panel and turned off my PC. The next day (today), I try to boot the computer, no result. Electricity is working fine, PC is plugged in, yet no reaction. I open the case, try to jump the pins on the motherboard for the PC to start, again, nothing at all. Frustrated I start spamming the power button and suddenly it powers on, works fine, nothing wrong with it. I enable the wake timers again in the power plan settings, thinking it might have screwed with something, turn it off, once again, no reaction when trying to power it on again. Then I decided to unplug everything from the back, doesn't help. I move the computer to my partner's desk, plug it in there (with her power cord), it decides to boot.

 

At this point I'm thinking well it might be the power cord, so I try a spare one, no reaction. Try a different outlet, nothing. The lights on my motherboard (which are always on, even when the PC is off), still light up. My Blue Yeti's light is also still on, as usual, and the ethernet lights on the back of the motherboard are also functioning. So now I'm wondering, is it most likely the PSU? I assume it's not the power button or the connection between power button and motherboard since jumping the pins doesn't work either.

 

TLDR; My PC has suddenly been turning on by itself, I tinker with the settings, suddenly PC doesn't boot anymore unless I spam the power button. Jumping the motherboard pins also doesn't work.

[esCaPade1]

Hi. First, clear the CMOS on your MBoard to get rid of the weirdness. Unplugging the computer from power is different to turning it off, so that might explain why it booted after being relocated. Clearing CMOS should get you booting at least once.

 

Windows can mess with BIOS settings now - only with fast shutdown disabled can Wake-on-LAN work, so things might change after booting into Windows - make sure to put your settings back to what they were before on the first boot. And enable fast shutdown in power settings to make sure the PC won't boot with WoL, which could have been the initial issue.

 

On the next boot, go into BIOS settings and go to the power options - disable any turn-on-by/with options, including the one for booting the PC after power loss.

Good luck!

[LizardKuwifu]

1 hour ago, esCaPade1 said:

Hi. First, clear the CMOS on your MBoard to get rid of the weirdness. Unplugging the computer from power is different to turning it off, so that might explain why it booted after being relocated. Clearing CMOS should get you booting at least once.

 

Windows can mess with BIOS settings now - only with fast shutdown disabled can Wake-on-LAN work, so things might change after booting into Windows - make sure to put your settings back to what they were before on the first boot. And enable fast shutdown in power settings to make sure the PC won't boot with WoL, which could have been the initial issue.

 

On the next boot, go into BIOS settings and go to the power options - disable any turn-on-by/with options, including the one for booting the PC after power loss.

Good luck!

I gave those things a try but I doesn't seem to have done anything... I do have to say, another thing I have noticed in the last couple of weeks, is that the PSU is making this ticking noise, short, faint little clicks every now and then, it doesn't really seem to have a pattern. I'm unsure if they were always there since my PC has only been standing on my desk for a while, which makes it more noticeable.

[esCaPade1]

I'm not sure if capacitors do that as they age, but they do age. If it was manufactured in 2023, however, it's a bit soon for that. Unless it was hand-picked for a self-build, there's a very good chance it's a cheap one. It doesn't sound normal, anyway - definitely not if it is nothing to do with the fan.

A failing PSU could cause all the issues you reported (the MB has the power-on after power-loss setting, so if the standby current was iffy, the MB would think it was a power restore and turn on, and a failing PSU can obviously cause the PC to not turn on at all), and they are usually a bit cheaper to replace than other bits, so it's definitely something worth looking into. Don't cheap out on one either - a good one should last a decade at least and gives your PC a good "footing" to do everything else from.

Unfortunately, the only thing in a PC which (arguably) takes more effort to replace than a PSU is a motherboard. Linus will sell you a screwdriver